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hello everybody and welcome to today's
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video an updated guide to AQA English
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literature paper 1 Section A focusing on
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an example based on MC Beth because I
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know that's the play that most of you
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are studying paper 1 Section A assesses
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your knowledge of a Shakespeare play and
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your teacher will select the text you're
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studying from the following list the
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total exam length is 1 hour 45 minutes
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and the paper is marked out of 64 34
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marks are available for section A the
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Shakespeare section including four marks
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for your spelling punctuation and
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grammar 30 marks are available for
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Section B the 19th century novel
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question and we'll look at that in a
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later video you should spend around 55
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minutes on the Shakespeare question
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including 5 minutes to check your
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technical accuracy at the end this is a
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closed book examination which means
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you're not allowed to take copies of
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your texts in with you there will
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however be an extract provided in the
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question paper for you to analyze the
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assessment objective in this section are
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ao1 read understand and respond to texts
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students should be able to maintain a
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critical style and develop an informed
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personal response and use textual
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references including quotations to
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support and illustrate interpretations
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ao2 analyze the language form and
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structure used by a writer to create
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meanings and effects using relevant
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subject terminology where appropriate
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AO3 show understanding of the
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relationships between texts and the
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contexts in which they were written and
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ao4 use a range of vocabulary and
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sentence structures for clarity purpose
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and effect with accurate spelling and
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punctuation now let's start with a quick
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guide to what each of these means with
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examples based on a McBeth question ao1
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is all about response to task and text
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using supporting references it goes
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without saying that you need to know
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your play inside out yes you'll be
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provided with an extract in the exam but
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the question will ask you to explore how
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something is presented across the text
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in including the extract so obviously
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you'll need to know the text well to
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answer the question the most important
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thing about this exam and in fact both
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literature exams is the idea of response
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to task I.E answering the question this
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came up again in the 2023 exam report
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your number one priority in the
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literature exams is to answer the
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questions now that might sound obvious
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but time and time again in past exams
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what we've seen is a number of students
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who know something very clever about a
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text and want to force that into their
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answer no matter what the question is
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don't let that be you priority number
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one needs to be to answer the question
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the highest marks rewarded to students
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who have a conceptualized response a
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hypothesis a line of argument which is
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explored throughout your answer rather
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than an answer made up of random
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disjointed paragraphs and ideas a
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conceptualized response has one clear
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line of argument all the way through
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let's look at an example with a question
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based on M Beth and you can find this
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question along with a full answer in in
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the second edition of my guide to
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English literature which is linked in
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the description read the following
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extract from act 1 scene 3 of McBeth and
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then answer the question that follows
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you can pause the video if you want to
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read through the extract there starting
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with the extract explore how far
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Shakespeare presents the witches as
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powerful in the extract and the play as
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a whole the summer 2017 exam report for
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this exam stated and this is a
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paraphrase I'll link the original in the
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description there isn't a fixed format
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for responding to the questions however
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high quality answers often started by
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addressing the main theme of the
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question using the entire text and then
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dipped in and out of both the extract
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and the whole text throughout their
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answer this demonstrated a robust and
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assured understanding of the text and
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its Concepts now I don't know about you
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but if something often appears in High
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Mark answers I want to do that so let's
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think about the question in terms of the
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whole text however this comes with a
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warning you must write about the the
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extract and The Wider text so even
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though you're thinking about the whole
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text don't forget to include the extract
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in your answer so another words how far
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does Shakespeare present The Witches as
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powerful in the entire play now in some
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ways a question on the witches is
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limited because they only appear a
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handful of times so with these more
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minor characters we can actually think
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about every single appearance they make
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now firstly then there's the way the
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play opens with the witches finishing up
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their meeting on the heath in act one
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scene one then they meet McBeth and
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Banquo in act 1 scene 3 giving them both
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prophecies So within the first three
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scenes we meet the witches twice but
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then things change we don't see the
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witches again until act 3 scene 5 in a
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kind of bizarre scene that many experts
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don't even believe Shakespeare wrote and
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then they make their final appearance in
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Act 4 scene 1 when McBeth visits them
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one last time and when we think about
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the whole text then a bigger picture
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perhaps starts to emerge a picture where
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the witches seem powerful at the start
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of the play and certainly seem powerful
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to McBeth when he interacts with them
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but actually this sense of power is
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undermined by Shakespeare and diminishes
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as the play progresses to the point
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where the witches Fade Out way before
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the end of the text so with all that in
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mind I'm going to come up with my thesis
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statement for the answer and I think
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something like this would work while
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Shakespeare initially presents the
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witches as powerful ultimately this
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impression of power is illusory used by
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the playright to explore the theme of
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appearances versus reality and here we
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have a concept in this case a two-part
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line of argument and I'm going to
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perhaps spend the first half of my
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answer looking at the which is as
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powerful and the second half looking at
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how this is just an illusion everything
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in my answer then becomes part of the
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theory I'm exploring and whilst we're
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here what about this as an introduction
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lots of you ask me do I need to write an
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introduction and this point has come up
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in a number of past exam reports
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including the 2023 One start stting your
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answer with something like this which
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makes your conceptualized idea your
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thesis your line of argument clear is a
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good idea it makes it very clear right
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away to the examiner where you're going
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to go with the answer but and this is
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important it also helps you as a student
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because you can keep looking back at it
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to make sure you're not drifting off the
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question which as you remember is
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priority number one answer the question
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now the next part of A1 is about
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supporting references exam reports have
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pointed out time and time again that
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this can be a quote from the text but it
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doesn't have to be it could be a
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reference to something that happens a
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paraphrase or a direct quotation you
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don't have the text in the exam so you
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aren't expected to have memorized
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everything which is encouraging so for
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example when I write about how the
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audience already knew about mcbeth's
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promotion I don't have to give the exact
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quotation from Duncan I can just
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reference the moment and write something
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like the audience already know about M
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Beth's promotion as Duncan spoke about
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it in the previous scene but if I want
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to make a specific language analysis
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Point perhaps how McBeth so foul and
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fair a day I have not seen Echoes the
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witch is fair is foul and foul is fair
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from a couple of scenes previously then
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direct quotations might work better
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there because they're the Crux of the
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point now ao2 is an interesting one
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assessment objectives are set by ofqual
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and are the same across all GCSE English
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literature specifications no matter what
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exam board you're on here in the UK and
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the actual assessment objective is
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analyze language form and structure and
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up until the 2022 exams the AQA Mark
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scheme explicitly listed an analysis of
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language and form and structure in the
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top band but now there's been a helpful
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tweak to the mark schemes which refer
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more broadly to analysis of writer's
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methods so what's happened here well a
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couple of things firstly it comes back
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to the point I've already made that your
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primary objective in these exams is
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answering the question AQA don't want
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anyone to feel that they have to include
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let's say a paragraph on structure or a
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paragraph on form it's absolutely fine
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to do that but and here's the big
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important Point only if it actually adds
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something useful to your analysis in
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answering the question and that won't
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always be the case the expansion of the
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mark scheme is there to help you
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understand you don't have to write about
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any specific method it's all about
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bringing relevant methods into your
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answer of course the assessment
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objective remains ao2 language structure
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and form so it's never wrong to study
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these areas is but when we're in an exam
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we should think first and foremost about
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answering the question and bringing
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anything relevant to our answer and the
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key word is relevant if it's a method
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the writer has used and it's relevant to
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your answer then you can write about it
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if there were ever some things that you
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weren't Sure Fit neatly into this
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assessment objective like perhaps
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setting or characterization you don't
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need to worry if it's relevant to the
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question you can write about it so let's
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look at some of the things to do with
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ao2 but remember this is not an
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exhaustive list if there's a method used
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by Shakespeare and it's relevant to your
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answer you can include it in your
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response but with that in mind let's
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think about the three main parts of ao2
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language is all about Shakespeare's use
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of words phrases and language features
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for effect now this includes figurative
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language such as similes metaphors
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personification onomatopeia that kind of
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thing but it is wider than that too one
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way I like to look at language analysis
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is to ask where has Shakespeare used a
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word or phrase where another one would
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have been fine but he seems to have
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chosen that one for a specific effect
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structure is about how the text is
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organized the order things take place in
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structure analysis is less about what's
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happening in a text and more about where
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it's happening and why in the
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Shakespeare question it's really useful
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to ask yourself where does the extract
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come from in the wider text and how is
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that relevant to the question I'm being
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asked now there are different ways of
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approaching this you might want to learn
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some theories on H tax structure but you
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don't need to at the very least you can
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ask yourself what happens before and
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after the extract and how is that
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important now for whole text structure I
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like to teach Freight TXS pyramid which
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can be applied to both five act plays
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and novels it runs from left to right
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starting with the exposition where we're
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introduced to the main characters and
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setting then there's the inciting
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incident the trigger or Catalyst which
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builds up to the climax the moment of
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greatest tension in the play and then
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the winding down to the end and we can
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apply this for example to Shakespeare's
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plays here's Freight tags pyramid for
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McBeth now how can we use this knowledge
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in the exam well in our question about
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the presentation of the witches as
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powerful the extract we have the First
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Time The Witches meet MC Beth is the
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inciting incident in the tragedy it's
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the Catalyst or trigger that makes
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everything else unfold and this suggests
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the witches are powerful as they play
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such a key role in the tragedy so
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thinking about where the extract comes
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from in The Wider text is one way to
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think about structure the 2017 Summer
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exam report highlighted and again this
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is a paraphrase the originals Linked In
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the description that in the Shakespeare
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section students who consider the
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positioning of the extract Within the
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play are inherently addressing the
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playwright's methods and the same report
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stated that higher performing students
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skillfully discussed the location of the
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extract in the text and then leveraged
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this to delve into character progression
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now as I said you don't have to do that
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through learning structural theories
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like freay tag you might just want to
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think about what happens before and
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after the extract let's look at an
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example in act 1 scene 3 The Witches
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tell MC Beth he will be among other
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things th of cordor moments later Ross
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arrives and tells McBeth he's been
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promoted to that very role and this
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astonishes McBeth now as Dr Emma Smith
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explains the witches seem creepily
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omnipotent to McBeth the gap between
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prophecy and enactment frighteningly
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slender but to us that is actually a gap
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between command the king's words in act
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1 scene 2 and fulfillment to Smith The
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Witches seem to interpose in a chain of
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human actions rather than direct actions
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themselves now this is such an important
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point for MC Beth Ross's words are the
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first he's heard of his promotion to th
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of cordor so he's Blown Away by The
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Witch's apparent power however for us
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the audience we don't feel the same way
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why because of Shakespeare's use of
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dramatic irony that's where the audience
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know something the characters on stage
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do not in the previous scene act one
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scene 2 we've already seen this moment
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where Duncan explains he's going to
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promote M Beth to th of cordor saying no
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more that th of cordor shall deceive our
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bosom interest go pronounce his present
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death and with his former title greet MC
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Beth the Brilliance of Shakespeare's
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structural decision lies not only in the
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creation of dramatic irony but also impr
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prompting deeper questions that tie in
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with the major themes of the play of
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appearances versus reality what McBeth
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sees is not what we see it's very clever
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and we can think more about the whole
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Tex structure too Shakespeare decision
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to open the play with the witches
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suggests they'll take a significant role
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but his decision to end their role so
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early in the play in Act 4 scene 1
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perhaps questions or undermines that
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another way to look at structure is
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within the extract itself and this is
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similar to the kinds of things you're
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looking at in paper 1 question three for
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English language on AQA so looking again
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at the extract what might we pick out
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the structural sequence of the witch's
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prophecies moving from what MC Beth and
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the audience knows that stain of Glamis
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to what the audience knows but MC Beth
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doesn't thing of cordor to what has not
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yet happened but will becoming King
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suggests power as it moves from what is
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proven to what is predicted from what is
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known to what is unknown but as always
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we only write about this if we can make
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it relevant to the question there's no
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benefit to showing off your knowledge of
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structure or Fray tag or anything like
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that unless it is relevant to your
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answer form means the type of text
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you're studying so in section A A play
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where we have an audience not a reader
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in a play you might think about the use
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of stage directions to suggest aspects
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of a character's behavior and
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considering how things will appear on
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stage paying close attention to stage
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directions will help here also think
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about how things would look and sound on
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the stage so the witches speak in
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trochaic meter where when we read the
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words on the page the difference perhaps
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doesn't stand out but the trochaic meter
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of the witch's speech would make them
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sound notably different to all of the
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other characters who speak in Pros or I
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Amit pentameter if we were watching and
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listening to the play so this auditory
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difference further sets The Witches
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apart and perhaps amplifies their
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mysterious sense of power AO3 is context
00:14:38
the term can be understood in a variety
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of ways and will vary depending upon
00:14:43
which text you're studying context can
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mean when the text was written when and
00:14:47
where it's set the literary context and
00:14:49
genre or responses from different
00:14:51
audiences so actually by writing about
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MC betha's tragedy we'd be hitting AO3
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in terms of genre but cont text also
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links to The Wider themes in a text and
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a helpful piece of advice from the exam
00:15:03
board is that the questions will always
00:15:05
be worded in such a way that they have a
00:15:07
link to context in them once again
00:15:09
answering the question is key if you
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answer the question fully you'll be
00:15:13
addressing context to gain full marks
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for ao4 you should achieve consistent
00:15:18
accuracy in spelling and punctuation and
00:15:20
you must also use sentence structures
00:15:22
and vocabulary to clearly Express
00:15:24
meaning so giving yourself a few minutes
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at the end to check through your answer
00:15:28
these things will be helpful that extra
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Mark or two could be the difference
00:15:32
between one grade and the next so let's
00:15:34
recap the points from this video think
00:15:36
about the question in relation to the
00:15:38
whole text including the extract and
00:15:40
come up with the theory or line of
00:15:42
argument or concept that you will
00:15:44
explore throughout your answer bring in
00:15:46
any methods that are relevant to your
00:15:48
answer and keep looking back at the
00:15:49
question and your introduction to make
00:15:51
sure you're not drifting off topic
00:15:53
because this is an extract based
00:15:55
question think about where the extract
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is from in The Wider text and consider
00:15:59
how that's relevant and consider if that
00:16:01
is relevant to your question I hope you
00:16:04
found this video useful if you'd like to
00:16:06
read a full answer to this question you
00:16:08
can find that in the second edition of
00:16:09
my guide to English literature which
00:16:11
I've just updated it's linked in the
00:16:13
description you can get it in paperback
00:16:15
on Amazon or instant download ebook atmr
00:16:18
bru.com but if you found the video
00:16:20
useful and want more in this series on
00:16:22
the other sections of the exam then
00:16:24
please do give it a thumbs up and
00:16:25
subscribe to the channel
